Figurative Language and Poetic Devices

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Figurative Language

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Language not meant to be taken literally; requires interpretation or connection.

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Metaphor

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Describes one thing as something else/something different; Makes a comparison.

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Extended Metaphor

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Same as a metaphor, but carried over several lines, or the entirety, of a poem.

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Hyperbole

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An extreme exaggeration used to emphasize a point.

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Symbol

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Anything that represents something else; typically tangible things are used to represent intangible ideas.

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Simile

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Compares two unlike things using “like” or “as” to emphasize a point.

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Personification

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Gives human qualities/characteristics to non-human creatures or objects.

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Imagery

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Words and phrases that appeal to a reader’s senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and/or smell.

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Sound Devices

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Ways poets play with the sounds words make to impact a poem’s mood or meaning.

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Alliteration

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The repetition of sounds at the beginning of words.